Why does each of these statements about colour hold? Sort them by the kind of claim being made.
Groups: A claim about the material and its supply · A claim about a particular culture and period · A claim tested on people and reported as a measurement
- Top German choice
- White: East v West
- Cheaper synthetic
- Linguistic link
- Blue status shift
- Rare source/cost
Hints
- Two of the six are about where a substance came from and what it cost.
- Two report numbers gathered from named samples of people.
Show the answer
A claim about the material and its supply: Rare source/cost, Cheaper synthetic
A claim about a particular culture and period: Blue status shift, White: East v West
A claim tested on people and reported as a measurement: Top German choice, Linguistic link
Sorting them is the lesson. The first column is checkable against a ledger, the second against a document, the third against a method and a sample, and none of the three licenses a sentence beginning "blue means". Confusing the columns is how colour symbolism turns into astrology.
Practise The Symbolic, Psychological and Social Life of Colour
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